michaelm wrote:Clay Davis wrote:OptionZero wrote:1) Needs more help, their front office is stupid
2) Should forget this loyalty crap and get the **** out of Portland if he ever wants a championship
Saying he's fine in PDX is saying he's fine with the terrible job his front office is doing AND, frankly, fine with merely being good instead of elite. I mean, how the hell is he still so bad against the trap? Because he, like his team, is "happy to be in the playoffs"
meanwhile, from Joe lacob down to steph curry and the rest of the squad, they demanded more and more and more, despite being an utterly trash franchise when curry got drafted and lacob bought the team
look where the are now
When you are ok with where you are, don't be surprised when you never move up
Clearly this Portland team is very, very good. Otherwise they wouldn't be in the conference finals (beating a #1 seed and a team with two superstars) and have had significant leads against a historically great team. Also important to note that they're missing their best big. I'm not sure how much of the game you watched tonight but they were getting carved up in the paint and gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds. They have a top 3 backcourt in the league and there's a huge drop off after those three teams (I have them alongside Houston and Golden State).
It's funny how fans (who, we would think, love the sport and appreciate the competitive nature of it) never give credit to opponents and jump down the throat of teams for losing by exaggerating how bad they are. Merely saying that Portland sucks because they lack what makes Golden State great and that they are merely "happy to be in the playoffs" essentially reduces to saying that they are mediocre because they are down 0-3 to Golden State and that they're content with losing. Were they content with losing when they won a game 7 on the road against the #2 seed in what is historically viewed as one of the hardest places to play in on the road? I'm sure Denver would have loved for them to be more complacent in any of the 4 overtime periods they played against them in what will be remembered as one of the most competitive games of this decade.
And Joe Lacob's wonderful ability to express high expectations by having one of the most potent weapons in NBA history being paid less than a role player isn't likely to be replicated by any other team in the league (and probably won't be replicated in the future).
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Sure, see my following post.
It is not all luck though, 29 other teams could have offered Curry more than 12 million per and didn’t, and GSW at that time were widely derided for picking Curry over Monta Ellis, including by their own fan base, Lacob In particular soon after buying the franchise being booed at the Oracle for trading Monta.
The franchise is also built on players picked 7th, 11th and 35th, and a basketball savant who saw the potential earlier than most if not all others and joined up.
The next multiple champion who might start being so as early as this year also went the road less travelled in going for Giannis and were somewhat derided for doing so. If they are not the next multiple title winners it will be the Clippers imo who have sensibly hired Jerry West to help construct their roster, cf GSW as above. Not keeping Jerry for as long as he wanted to be there may be Lacob’s wrong move btw.
Some level of unconventional thinking was necessary, true. But that doesn't change the mere fact that Stephen Curry was being paid $11 million per year. Also, you should read on the nature of the contract: It was an extension -- he was not on the market. He took it because of concerns over his ankle (concerns which would later be shown to be unfounded). Curry himself has said that his ankle was a major factor in why that number was agreed upon.
My argument was never that the Warriors are not well run, but that the most pivotal moment in the franchise's history -- Curry's $44 million over four years -- is not likely to re-occur (both because of the rarity of players of Curry's calibre and because of further due diligence on the part of players in understanding their future medical prospects).
Portland is build on players selected 6th, 10th, and 1st. Denver has a great core build around players selected 7th, 41st, and two players both selected at 19th. There are quite a few teams who have had excellent results this season with savvy signings and picks.
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